


See You Again

by radiantdean



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Character death previous to the fic, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:57:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4703516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiantdean/pseuds/radiantdean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fulfilled tumblr prompts</p>
            </blockquote>





	See You Again

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you're interested, my tumblr is radiantdean (:

“Cas, I really need your help,” Dean mumbled. He was perched on the edge of his bed, his eyes drifting around the familiar landscape of a dingy, old motel room. His fingers worried the label of the beer bottle between his palms until the glue was caked beneath his thumbnails. 

He didn’t even look around when he heard the flapping of wings, merely glancing down at the bottle between his hands. Meeting Cas’s eyes was just something he couldn’t bear at the moment. 

“Hello, Dean,” the angel said softly, his voice low and hoarse. At the sound of his name, the hunter glanced up, his green eyes locking on Cas’s blue.

“I need to see Sammy again,” Dean said, glad that his voice didn’t waver as he thought it might. 

“Dean—” Cas started, but the hunter cut him off, getting to his feet.

“No,” he said, taking a few steps closer to Cas. “I don’t want excuses. I just want you to get me to my brother, whatever that takes.”

“I can’t pull him out of the cage,” Cas said, standing his ground. “Even the most powerful archangel would not be able to accomplish that task.”

“Then don’t pull him out,” Dean said, ignoring the way his stomach turned over when he spoke those words. “Figure something else out.”

Cas stood in silence for a long time, his head cocked to the side, eyes slightly narrowed. He stood there so long Dean started to wonder if the angel was even still there, if he’d heard him. Finally, Cas moved, reaching out two fingers towards Dean’s forehead. 

“Whoa, man, what do you think you’re doing?” Dean asked, leaning backwards, his wary eyes on Cas’s hand.

“Do you trust me?” the angel said.

“Yeah, but—”

“Do you trust me?”

Dean simply looked at Cas for a couple of seconds before nodding. He closed his eyes only seconds before feeling the angel’s fingers against his forehead. 

When he opened his eyes, he knew he was very far from where they’d started. Instead of overcast, rainy, and heavily forested northern Oregon, the sun was shining on a bustling street. The air was humid, but the breeze was cool and refreshing against Dean’s face.

“Where are we?” he asked, glancing around. The place seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place it. 

“Palo Alto, California,” Cas said, his eyes straight ahead.

“Palo— You mean where Stanford is? Why did you take me to Palo Alto?”

“You asked me where we were, not when we were,” the angel said, turning his head to look at the stunned hunter.

"When? You’re telling me we time traveled? To when?”

“2005,” Cas said. “And if I’m not mistaken, there you are now.”  
Dean followed the angel’s gaze, his eyes landing on the black Impala as it sped down the road. He could just make out his own profile and fingers drumming energetically on the steering wheel.

“I pick Sammy up from college tonight, don’t I?” Dean said quietly, to which Cas responded with a nod.

“I’ll be back to pick you up tomorrow morning,” was all Cas said before he disappeared, accompanied by the flapping of wings. 

Once Cas had left, it dawned on Dean that he was actually going to see Sam again. Some of the hopelessness that had been weighing on his chest since he’d watched Sam take that jump dissipated, and he couldn’t help but let a small smile creep onto his face.

He remembered this day well. How he’d driven around in circles for hours, both determined to get Sam’s help and anxious about what his brother would do if he merely showed up on his doorstep. Sam had built a new life for himself, and Dean could so easily remember the hesitation he had about intruding on that.

After he’d been walking around for a few hours, he could feel the nerves begin to churn in his stomach.

“I need a drink,” he muttered to himself, and happily pushed open the door to the next bar he found. The place was decorated for Halloween, streamers strung across the ceiling and banners hung beneath the bar. He took a seat at the high wooden counter and immediately ordered a beer for himself, relishing in the relief he felt from the cool liquid coursing down his throat. 

Dean hadn’t been sitting there that long when more people began to trickle in. He could tell that most were college students, by the way they dressed, by the way they were interacting with those around them. He kept his back turned, eyes on the label of his bottle. He tried to ignore those squeezing in beside him, trying to order drinks, until he heard one certain voice.

“I need three shots of tequila,” a man said, very closeby on Dean’s right side. He glanced up, his eyes growing slightly wider as they locked on the profile of his younger brother, who had so far not noticed him.

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out, as if his vocal chords had just decided they’d had enough. He wasn’t sitting there, open-mouthed, too long, however, because Sam obviously felt someone’s eyes on him.

He glanced down and to his left before back up at the bar, but immediately did a double take when he saw just who was looking at him.

“Dean?” Sam said, his voice quiet. If Dean hadn’t seen his lips move, he wouldn’t have known Sam had said anything.

“Hiya, Sammy,” he replied, smiling slightly as the words passed his lips. 

“You’re— What are you doing here? And you… You look so old!”

At his brother’s words, Dean remembered the circumstances under which he’d been brought here, and his stomach began to churn again, the initial delight from seeing Sam disappearing slightly.

“Can we go outside?” Dean said. “Talk for a bit, just you and me?”

Sam nodded, his eyes still wide as he pushed away from the bar, another student immediately filling his spot.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, leading his older brother from the bar and outside into the balmy, night air.

“So,” Sam said, turning to look at Dean. “What are you doing here?”

"It’s kind of a long story, Sammy,” Dean said, unable to tear his eyes from Sam’s face.

“Well, we’ve got time.” The initial shock from seeing Dean was obviously beginning to wear off. Sam’s tone was becoming a bit more aggressive, as if couldn’t believe Dean had just dropped in like this.

Dean took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m, uh, I’m from the year 2010,” he said quietly.

“You’re what?” Sam asked. “Look, Dean, I know we’ve seen a lot of crazy things, but you really expect me to believe that? That you’re from the future?”

"Yeah, I do,” Dean said.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because we’re brothers. And what do I get from making something like that up?”

Sam stood silently for a minute, his lips pressed together in a tight line. “Fine,” he said. “But I want you to prove it to me.”

“How?”

“Tell me something you from this year wouldn’t know.”

“You’ve got a girlfriend named Jess,” Dean began, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “You’ve got a law school interview on Monday, and you scored a… 174 on your LSAT.”

Sam was silent, obviously stunned. “Alright,” he said a bit croakily. “I believe you. But my question still stands. What are you doing here? And how did you get here?”

“An angel sent me here, cause I needed to see you,” Dean said. He wasn’t exactly sure how much to tell Sam. He knew that too much would change things forever, and he couldn’t risk that.

“Needed to see me?” Sam said. “Why? What happens five years from now?”

“‘Fraid I can’t tell you that, Sammy,” Dean said, his throat closing slightly as he thought of just what he couldn’t say.

Sam pursed his lips in frustration, his eyes wandering above Dean’s head as he seemed to be thinking. “It’s something bad, isn’t it,” he said finally. It wasn’t a question, not in the slightest, but Dean nodded in response anyway.

“Anything I can do to stop it?” he asked his older brother.

Dean took a shaky breath before speaking. “No… No, Sam, I don’t think there is.”

Sam nodded, his eyes far off. “How do we get along in the future?” he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Better than we do in this year,” Dean said, smirking slightly.

“Good,” Sam said softly. “I’m glad.”

“You’re glad?” Dean asked, incredulous.

“Yeah, I am. I always hated the way I left things with you when I came out here. But I’m glad we patch that up.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile slightly, watching the way Sam got a bit fidgety when he talked about things like this. Though he wasn’t one to talk, as he too had the urge to look away, crack a joke, and lighten the mood.

“Anyway,” Sam said, glancing back at the door to the bar. “I’ve got some friends waiting for me inside.”

Dean blinked a couple of times before nodding. “Yeah… Yeah, of course,” he said. He stood awkwardly for a moment before closing the distance between the two of them and wrapping his arms around Sam’s shoulders. The younger Winchester stiffened slightly before returning the embrace. 

When they stepped away from each other, they shared a small smile before Sam started to make his way back to the bar entrance.

“Hey, Sam?” Dean called at the last minute.

“Yeah?”

“I was always proud of you,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “No matter what dad says, I was proud of you for what you did out here.”

Sam looked down at the ground, his hair falling slightly to cover his face.

“Thanks, Dean,” he said after a couple seconds of silence. “And, uh, I’m really sorry for whatever happens in the future. I’m sure you’ll… we’ll get through it.” With that, Sam disappeared back into the bar, leaving Dean standing out on the sidewalk.

“Yeah, we will,” Dean muttered to himself as he began to walk. “Because I’m finding some way to get you back, Sammy. I promise.”


End file.
